Traders' plea for debt relief turned down

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors said the request of 20 Senen traders to slash by half their unpaid debt to the City Market Company, PD Pasar Jaya, is unreasonable.

"That reason their debt is so high is simply because they cannot manage their money at all. Why can other traders pay their dues regularly? So it's clear, the mistake is on the 20 traders' part," councilor Hotma Tambunan said.

Tambunan was supported by Abdulgani H. Abdullah, a councilor from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) who said that 300 other traders have regularly made their payments to the company.

A delegation of small-scale traders who run their business on the second floor of the Block III of the Senen, Central Jakarta, marketplace came to the City Council yesterday, asking the council to help facilitate a dialog between them and officials of the city-owned company over their debts.

The traders were accompanied by their lawyer Elwis Alba of M. Nasir Associates.

The problem for the traders began with a 1992 regulation that changed their payment schedule.

PD Pasar Jaya used to collect Rp 1,000 (US 46 cents) from traders on daily basis. Since 1992, the same amount has been collected but in a monthly lump sum.

The traders, however, rejected the new regulation, saying they were more familiar with the daily payment system than the monthly one.

At least 20 traders then delayed paying until they had run up a debt of Rp 1 million (US$465.7) to PD Pasar Jaya.

PD Pasar Jaya recently threatened to kick the 20 out.(jsk)